January–March •
January 24 –
Anglo-Spanish War: English Admiral
Christopher Newport leads an unsuccessful attempt to take the Spanish-controlled Caribbean island of
Jamaica, where he was attempting to pillage the area to obtain supplies. The Spanish defenders repel the fleet, and Newport leads the attackers to the coast of Central America. •
February 17 –
Anglo-Spanish War: The
Battle of Puerto Caballos is fought off of the coast of
Guatemala by two Spanish Navy galleons, and eight English Navy and French pirate ships. The English-French soldiers and pirates, commanded by
Christopher Newport and
Michael Geare, plunder Puerto Caballos over the next two weeks, and the Spanish defenders suffer 230 casualties. •
February 25 –
Dutch–Portuguese War: the
Portuguese ship
Santa Catarina is seized by
Dutch East India Company ships off
Singapore. •
March 15 – French explorer
Samuel de Champlain departs from the Channel port of
Honfleur in the
Calvados département in the
Kingdom of France for his first voyage to the settlement of
New France in what is now
Canada. •
March 24 • Queen
Elizabeth I of England dies at
Richmond Palace (having ruled since
1558). She is succeeded by her first cousin twice removed,
King James VI of Scotland (where he has ruled since
1567),
uniting the crowns of
Scotland and
England. •
Tokugawa Ieyasu is granted the title of
shōgun from
Emperor Go-Yozei, and establishes the
Tokugawa shogunate in
Edo, Japan. The 265-year-long
Edo period begins. •
March 30 – The
Nine Years War (Ireland) is ended by the submission of
Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, to the English Crown, and the signing of the
Treaty of Mellifont.
April–June •
April 27 – The first permanent Dutch trading post in
Indonesia is established in
Banten by Vice Admiral Wybrand van Warwijck, who sets up a factory to store and package the trading commodity
black pepper. •
April 28 – The funeral of
Elizabeth I of England is held in
Westminster Abbey. •
May 8 –
Mozes Székely is installed as the
Prince of Transylvania by the Ottoman Sultan,
Mehmed III. Székely is killed in battle on July 17. •
May 13 – In modern-day northern
Thailand, the rulers of
Chiang Mai retake control of the
Nan province and capture its ruler, Cao Cetabut. •
May 14 –
Pope Gabriel VIII of Alexandria, leader of the
Coptic Christian Church, dies after a reign of almost 16 years. He is succeeded by
Pope Mark V. •
May 19 –
The King's Men, a troupe of English professional actors composed primarily of former members of the
Lord Chamberlain's Men, is granted its royal patent by King James. The company will give the first performances of many of the plays of
William Shakespeare, who is one of the company's 26 principal actors. Named in order of priority on the patent are manager
Lawrence Fletcher, Shakespeare, and
Richard Burbage. •
May 26 – The
Battle of Sluis is fought at sea off of the Belgian Netherlands as Spanish ships try unsuccessfully to break through a blockade port of the port of
Sluis. The Spanish ships are forced to return to port after at least 414 sailors are killed. •
May 29 – A
tabagie feast is held in
Tadoussac in the modern-day Canadian province of
Quebec, as representatives of France (
Samuel De Champlain and
François Gravé Du Pont, form an alliance with representatives of the
Innu,
Algonquin and
Maliseet tribes. •
June 7 – Prince
Şehzade Mahmud of the Ottoman Empire, the 16-year-old son of
Sultan Murad III, is executed on orders of his father, on advice of the Grand Vizier, after being accused unjustly of an assassination plot.
July–September •
July 17 – Sir
Walter Raleigh is arrested in England on charges of
treason and of conspiring with
Lord Cobham in the "
Main Plot" to overthrow King James for replacement by
Lady Arbella Stuart. •
July 25 – The formal
coronation of James I as
King of England takes place at
Westminster Abbey. •
Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–1618): Led by Iranian Emperor
Abbas the Great, the Safavid Army of Iran stages a surprise attack on
Tabriz, which had been taken from the Safavids by the Ottoman Empire in 1588. Tabriz is recaptured after 29 days.
October–December •
October 6 – On the Philippine island of
Luzon, the
Sangley Rebellion against Spanish rule ends with the massacre of 20,000
Sangley Chinese residents in
Manila. •
October 18 –
Yemişçi Hasan Pasha, the
Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, is executed on orders of Sultan Mehmed III, after failing to respond more quickly to the Safavid Empire's actions to take Tabriz. The Sultan appoints
Yavuz Ali Pasha, the Ottoman Governor of Egypt to replace Yemişçi Hasan. •
October 21 –
Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–1618): The Safavid Army of Iran, led by Emperor
Abbas the Great, recaptures
Tabriz from the Ottoman Empire after 15 years of Ottoman occupation. •
November 15 – Having recaptured Tabriz from the Ottoman Empire, Abbas the Great leads the Safavids in a siege of
Yerevan. •
November 17 – Sir
Walter Raleigh goes on trial for
treason, in the converted Great Hall of
Winchester Castle. •
December 22 – Sultan
Mehmed III of the
Ottoman Empire dies, and is succeeded by his son
Ahmed I. •
December 29 –
Yavuz Ali Pasha, who had been appointed by Mehmed III in October as
Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, arrives at Constantinople to begin service. He dies from illness seven months later.
Ongoing events •
Russian famine of 1601–1603.
Date unknown • A rebellion breaks out in
Transylvania. • French
Huguenot Pierre de Gua is granted royal permission to settle in
North America, founding the
colony of
Acadia. •
Yaqob is deposed as
Emperor of Ethiopia for the first time by Za Sellase, who appoints his cousin
Za Dengel to replace him. •
Johann Bayer publishes the
star atlas Uranometria, the first to cover the entire
celestial sphere. • Japanese female entertainer
Izumo no Okuni originates
kabuki dance drama in
Kyoto. • The earliest of eight companies that will eventually merge to form the
Kikkoman Corporation, the producers of
soy sauce, is founded in
Japan. == Births ==